A late report on Tuesday night by Dave van Dyck in the Chicago Tribune stated the “Cubs deny offering Schmidt huge deal”. A quote from the report stated, “The Cubs are not believed to have made a solid offer, certainly not at those figures.” According to the report the Cubs do have an interest in Schmidt and “have talked to his agents several times” and van Dyck went on to state, “knowing it might take more money to lure him to the Midwest from the West Coast.” Several outlets reported the offer and said the source of the report was the San Francisco Chronicle that the offer was a 3-year, $44 million dollar deal. XM Radio discussed the report on SI.com by Jon Heyman in which he stated his sources were “two high-ranking baseball people” but did state Jim Hendry disputed the amount of the offer but not that the Cubs are pursuing Schmidt.
This should all be cleared up by next Thursday when the Winter Meetings come to a completion.